Overall, this has not been a stellar year for my vegetable garden.  I will spare you the drama* about seeds that may or may not have sprouted and sprouts that may or may not have been eaten by slugs or bugs. Suffice it to say, I have  a lot of unexpected empty space in my garden boxes.

Yesterday was the first day of really warm sunny weather, so I optimistically planted a few rows of kale: the last of the winterbor seeds, some lacinato and Vates blue curled scots.  Last year I had a huge crop of something called blue curly kale, which is the kale featured in my blog header photo. Regrettably, I didn’t save any seeds and was unable to find those seeds that fit that description this year.

All the kale that was planted in March was gone by the end of April, and the kale replanted in mid May is still only 2 centimeters tall, so won’t be ready to eat for quite some time. The small patch of “winter kale blend” planted last fall (see post) it suffered all winter and then bolted in the spring. Right now the red kale is actually doing quite well, but the green kale has all flowered and is going to seed (see below). Although the green kale is kind of flat and lacks texture, I am saving the seed “just in case”.

Yesterday I also planted the remaining seeds in the packet of black beauty zucchini, santo long standing cilantro (that was the one thing that did well in the winter), lots of mesculins, and three rows of basil. Thinking that basil will grow is beyond optimistic and is almost delusional.  But maybe that’s what it takes to maintain a gardener’s sanity in a year like this: lots of delusion.

A final note: it is 9:45 and it is still warm enough to sit on our deck and write this. Although the garden is dark, the sky is still very bright.

*”drama” is a relative term. Is there ever any real drama when it comes to gardening?